Fortuner ride comfort

[rich]

I wasn't sure if I should post this in here, or the suspension area...
I have driven a couple of Fortuners on short trips. Recently I did a longer trip (in a different Fortuner) and got out of the city onto the more remote (still on bitumen sealed roads) and noticed the ride was incredibly rough. Every little imperfection in the road could be felt. The roads were not in that bad of condition, but after some time I felt was being shaken constantly and a bit sick.
I came from another 4WD, so I don't expect a perfect ride.
Anyone got any ideas why or is a very rough ride on the outback bitumen road normal?
Has anyone experienced this?
Have they changed the suspension set up in the last 12 months, as this was one of the earlier release vehicles?
Thanks.

[tekka maki]

Yeah, certain roads have that effect on it. Strangely some country bitumen roads that look to be in bad condition ride fine while others that look to be in reasonable condition ride poorly. Did you have much weight in the back when you noticed it was particularly bad?

[rich]

No weight in the back, but work utes ride much better than this when empty. It was bad.
It just had standard Toyota suspension.
This was several hours, not just a short trip and I don't think the road was the issue.
How many have fortuners with a rough ride?

[tekka maki]

There's generally a different rear suspension setup in work utes. It may be my imagination but I think things have improved a little bit for me on roads that have caused me problems in the past since carrying my air compressor and recovery kit (with recovery hitch receiver) in the rear. Maybe extra weight changes the travel distance of the coils in the rear which might have the effect of reducing the judder that can sometimes occur. Something else that may have an impact on what you feel is tyre pressure. Do you know what cold tyre pressure you're running with?

[rich]

Hi mate. First thing I did was stop and check tyre pressure. It was ok, 34 psi all round. So ruled that out.

[young_dazza]

Ive noticed on some sections of highway you can feel every little bump in the road. Other sections are fine... Mine is a 2015 model

[rich]

I didn't notice any sections were fine...hmm.

[rich]

The Hilux's are much smoother than this Fortuner.

So are people generally happy with the ride quality?

I noticed the odd comment in some magazine review articles that the Fortuner was a bit rough, but this is bad...
I'm just trying to work out if it's normal, or somehow a one off with this particular car.

[Kiat]

Ride is harsh on mine too. I think there's not enough damping, the stock shocks. I wonder if that's why Toyota recommended 30psi, but I feel that's rather low.

[Anthony]

My demo GX felt okay in stock kit, but I put on the steel OE toyota bar / warn winch about 2 weeks after I bought it, which included their front upgrade kit due to the increased weight, then a couple of weeks later got a 40mm OME lift kit from ARB.

[young_dazza]

I generally find that aftermarket suspension upgrades can be quite harsh compared to the original equipment. That was true for the Prado and a Suzuki I previously owned.

Has anyone got any feedback on aftermarket suspension, such as the lift kit from ARB or others? How does the ride compare with the original?

[Jutobs]

My nov 2015 fortuna has oem steel bar & tow bar recently had trips last easter from mel to portland up to mt gambier, rides are awesome way better than my misus 2013 rav4!!!

[dandin]

Check the tyre pressures.

I find the difference between anything over 32psi and the recommended (from memory) 28psi is like night and day.

My car delivered with 40psi. It felt as if I was driving a slammed/stanced/lowered car.

[rich]

Tyres are all 33 / 34 PSI.

[dandin]

I run 30psi and found it's fine. I just checked my car and the recommended tyre pressure is 200kPa which is 29psi on the door sticker.

My tolerances might be higher than some people here. My other cars are an Evo 9 and GTI-R. However, my wife also has a Getz and I drove all 4 cars and have no issues with the Fortuner having a harsh ride. If anything, it's by far the most comfortable of the 4 cars.

I think this has a lot to do with your own personal tolerances. If you've come from driving (I hate to say it) "boats" then you might find the Fortuner harsh. If you're used to "sportier" cars, then you might find it like riding a cloud.

Edit: I've driving a few other cars which you might classify in the league of the Fortuner.
Such as, 2010 Fortuner (overseas model obviously), N70 Hilux, 2008 Pathfinder and comparatively speaking, the Fortuner is not harsh compared to those.

[tekka maki]

I run mine at 30 psi too and it's not too bad ride-wise. I'm not fussy though, my previous car was a 2007 Corolla and before that a 99 Civic.

[rich]

Over on the Hilux Forum I see a few threads about harsh ride quality as well. They blame the rear leaf springs, that is obviously not the issue with the Fortuner.

I'm surprised this hasn't come up before on this forum - every little bump or slight imperfection on the bitumen I feel. It's ok for short rides, but after 45 minutes or so, it starts to fatigue you.

[Kiat]

Hey Rich, do you have stock tyres & wheels? Crusade stock are HT 18" alloys, so it may not be as comfort as 17", or if you have upgraded your tyres to LT, or if you have bull bar, etc... these have effects on the ride.
Anyway, try a different pump, amd get yourself a tyre pressure gauge. You'd be surprise to find many uncalibrated pumps around.

[rich]

Yeah I wI'll let all the tyres down to 30 PSI today and see how that goes. I Haven't done that yet because the ride is so rough that I doubt a few PSI could make the difference needed to make this ride normally.

Our previous 2005 Hilux had 10 times better ride quality.

I have a couple of young children and I expect they may get travel sickNess if I can't find a solution.

Unfortunately a 20 minute test drive around town didn't reveal this issue to us.

[Bussa]

rich if you think the Fortuner is bad compared to the Hilux, there is certainly an issue with your Fortuner.

Take it back to the dealer and check that they removed the factor 'spacers' or suspension stops during their pre delivery check. If the spacers have accidentally been left in the ride will be horrid as the suspension isn't exactly flexing...!

[rich]

Thanks everyone for your help. I adjusted the tyre pressures down to around 29 / 30 PSI, and it brought the ride comfort back to what I think is normal for a 4WD.
Feeling much better.
I am surprised that 4 PSI made the difference.

[dandin]

Like I said above, anything over 32psi is like night and day.